Requirements for various conductive materials to be used in the electric and electronic industry are becoming more severe. Development of conductive materials which would achieve a reduction in weight and size of parts and exhibit long-term stability and high performance properties has long been demanded.
In order to cope with these increasing requirements, extensive research has recently been conducted on electrically conductive high polymers in place of the conventional carbonaceous or metallic materials. Many proposals on use of such high polymers have also been made. Conductive high polymers so far proposed include heterocyclic high polymers, such as polythiophene, polypyrrole, etc., as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,543,402, 4,547,270, 4,552,927, 4,548,696 and 4,657,985, and they have been suggested as applicable to electrodes for secondary batteries or electrochromic display elements.
However, many of these heterocyclic high polymers are insoluble or infusible. Therefore, they have such poor molding processability that they have not been employed practically. In order to overcome this problem, various techniques have recently been proposed. For example, J. C. S., Chem. Commum., p. 817 (1984) discloses a method for obtaining a uniform composite film composed of polypyrrole and a thermoplastic resin, such as polyvinyl chloride, in which the surface of an anode base is previously coated with a thermoplastic resin film before polypyrrole is produced by electrolytic polymerization. European Patent Application No. 160207A discloses that electrolytic polymerization of pyrrole is carried out in the presence of a polymer latex having anionic surface characteristics to obtain a conductive high polymer composite material with improved processability. Similar methods are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,582,575, 4,604,427, 4,617,353, and 4,617,228. Further, Synthetic Metals, Vol. 15, p. 169 (1986) teaches introduction of a long chain alkyl group into insoluble and infusible heterocyclic high polymers to thereby obtain organic solvent-soluble heterocyclic high polymers which can be molded into a coating film on an appropriate base. As exemplified by the above-mentioned techniques, the conventional proposals describe how to combine a previously polymerized resin and a conductive high polymer to obtain a composite film.
However, a composite material of a previously polymerized resin and a conductive high polymer is nothing but a polymer blend. It is difficult to form a microscopically uniform composite film. In other words, it is difficult to obtain a composite film having high electric performance characteristics.
In the electric and electronic industry, it has recently become widespread to coat a radical polymerizable compound and polymerize it by irradiation with, for example, ultraviolet radiation to thereby effect minute processing. However, the above-described composite formation techniques have difficulties in minute processing unless extremely complicated steps are involved and, moreover, the resolving power attained has its limit.